Background Use of essential oils for controlling Candida albicans growth has

Background Use of essential oils for controlling Candida albicans growth has gained significance due to the resistance acquired by pathogens towards a number of widely-used drugs. of C. albicans cells with vapour exposure was estimated by kill time assay. Morphological alteration in treated/untreated C. albicans cells was observed by the Scanning electron microscopy (SEM)/Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and chemical analysis of the strongest antifungal agent/essential oil has been done by GC GC-MS. Results Lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus) essential oil exhibited the strongest antifungal effect followed by mentha (Mentha piperita) and eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus) essential oil. The MIC of lemon grass essential oil in liquid phase (288 mg/l) was significantly higher than that in the vapour phase (32.7 mg/l) and a 4 h exposure was sufficient to cause 100% loss CYFIP1 in viability of C. albicans cells. SEM/AFM of C. albicans cells treated with lemon grass essential oil at MIC level in liquid and vapour phase showed prominent shrinkage and partial degradation respectively confirming higher efficacy of vapour phase. GC-MS analysis revealed that lemon grass essential oil was dominated by oxygenated monoterpenes (78.2%); α-citral or geranial (36.2%) and β-citral or ABR-215062 neral (26.5%) monoterpene hydrocarbons (7.9%) and sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (3.8%). Conclusion Lemon grass essential oil is highly effective in vapour ABR-215062 phase against C. albicans leading to deleterious morphological changes in cellular structures and cell surface alterations. Background Candida albicans is the most common species associated with candidiasis and is the most frequently recovered species from ABR-215062 hospitalized patients. Candidiasis ABR-215062 encompasses infections that range from superficial such as oral thrush [1] and vaginitis to systemic and potentially life-threatening diseases. The increase of C. albicans infections parallels medical advancements such as invasive procedures immunosuppressive treatments for organ transplants and widespread use of broad-spectrum antibiotics [2]. Excessive antibiotics use results in killing of ABR-215062 the competing bacterial flora leading to an over growth of yeasts [3 4 The therapeutic approach to nosocomial infections is a great challenge due to the resistance developed by pathogens towards a number of widely-used drugs [5]. Therefore the use of essential oils for the prevention and treatment of infection has been gaining popularity within the research field over the past 10 years [6 7 Tea tree gas shows promise like a topical ointment antifungal agent with latest medical data indicating effectiveness in the treating dandruff [8] and dental candidiasis [9]. Data from an pet model also reveal that it might be effective in the treatment of vaginal candidiasis [10]. Recently Karpanen et al. [11] demonstrated that chlorhexidine digluconate (CHG) eucalyptus ABR-215062 essential oil tea tree oil and thymol exhibit significant antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus epidermidis. However the concentration of essential oils required to achieve the same level of growth inhibition as CHG was several orders of magnitude higher (g/l for essential oils compared with mg/l for CHG). Nevertheless essential oils at times may be more effective in controlling biofilm cultures due to their better diffusibility and mode of contact. For example in the study by Al-Shuneigat et al. [12] staphylococci in a biofilm mode of growth demonstrated increased susceptibility to an essential oil-based formulation compared with planktonic cells. Karpanen et al. [11] also noticed that thymol showed increased activity against S. epidermidis growing in biofilm compared with planktonic cells. The authors suggested that being a phenolic compound thymol has both hydrophilic and hydrophobic properties which may enhance diffusion of this compound in a biofilm and allow its access to fungal cells where it alters the permeability of plasma membranes [13]. Hence essential oils could be a better antimicrobial agent provided their efficacy is enhanced resulting in lower MICs. Several approaches have been proposed to minimise essential oil concentrations. One of them is use of essential oils in.